The Next Evolution: Legacy
by Kioyuki Oniga
Summary: The Legacy Virus, for mutants the mot deadly disease in existence, when a madman unleashes it on Bayville, will one mutant be willing to give their life for the sake of mutantkind? Traces of X-23 X OC, Scott X Jean and Lance X Kitty
1. Sinister

Here it is, the next fic in the series

And a word of caution: One char from the show is going to die in this fic!

Disclaimer: I don't own the X-men or X-men: Evolution, Mr Sinister's owned by Marvel Comics, bu tmy OCs are all mine

The Next Evolution Part 5: Legacy

Chapter One: Sinister 

"All in favour of the Office of National Emergency bill?"

"Bill defeated"

A shadowy figure slammed his fist onto the armrest of his chair upon watching the monitor in front of him

"Are your plans not working out, Essex?" a chiding voice said from behind him, the figure leapt out of the chair and spun around to glare at Magneto

"What are you doing here?" he spat, putting as much emphasis on the 'you' as he could, showing he regarded Magneto as highly as the mud on his boots

"I know what you did Essex, it was you who hired Mystique and turned my daughter against me wasn't it?" he asked accusingly, Essex's split into a gruesome grin

"Why, whatever gives you that idea?" Magneto glared at him and a radiator flew off the wall

"Don't play games with me Essex, it's not good for your health" he snarled, Essex's grin only got wider as he pressed a button on his wristband, a green gas sprayed out of a vent above Magnetos head

"You should know better than to come to see me alone, Lensharr" Essex jeered as the master of magnetism sunk to his knees, he walked over and gave him a sharp kicks to the stomach, enjoying hearing the mutants ribs snap

"And get one thing clear, my names not Essex, it hasn't been for over a hundred years" he said, holding up a small canister, the large biohazard signs on it were the last thing Magneto saw as he blacked out and Essex added

"My names Sinister, Mister Sinister"

In the next chapter – Mutants in Bayville start to get ill, is it a cold or something far, far worse?


	2. Sick Notes

Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men

Hi guys (and gals), sorry it's been so long since my last post, but college work's catching up with me, it's also why I won't be posting as regularlay as I normally do for the next few months or so

Chapter Two: Sick Notes

The mutants all left the Institute and set off for school. Having drawn the proverbial short straw, Rahne, Hellblade, X-23, Rogue and Katie all climbed into the X-Van

"You'll want to put that on" X-23 told Hellblade pointing to the seat belt

"I doubt I'll need it, surely she is not as bad as everyone says" he replied, X-23 gave him a smile "Well, it will be your funeral", Kitty slammed her foot down on the gas and the X-Van lurched forwards. The vampire lunged for his seatbelt

One childhood trauma inducing ride later… 

The X-Vans doors flew open and Rahne, X-23, Hellblade and Katie all leapt out before the van had pulled up to the kerb

"Hey what's the rush?" Kitty called, a stop sign, a parking meter, a broken dog lead and a basket ball hoop (AN: No, even I don't know how she managed to get that there!) were all partially phased through the vans bonnet

"Well?" X-23 asked, Hellblade gave her a haunted look

"I'll fight HYDRA, SHEILD, a dozen Sentinels, whatever you want, just don't make me ride in that van ever again" he gazed around, he was wearing black jeans, a black shirt with a green bat symbol on it, black converse trainers and a long black coat, even in civilian attire, he felt very out of place

"Nervous?" X-23 asked

"A little, the last school I was in was a shelled out ruin in Germany" he said

"I am too, this is my first time here" she replied, she was wearing a black skirt, a red sleeveless top with a black lace gothic collar and knee high black boots

"Hey, come on guys or you're gonna be late for class" Rogue called to them, the two quickly ran to catch up with her, Holly and Rahne, who was resting against a row of lockers, as they drew level she started coughing violently

"You O.K?" Rogue asked her, she nodded

"Yea, it's nothing" she said, getting the worst of her coughing fit under control

"You sure? You sound like you oughta go to the nurses office" Rogue asked, Rahne shook her head

"Nah I'll be fine"

"Hurry up and get to class" a stern voice snapped behind them, it was Principal Kelly

"Sorry, Rahne's not feeling very well" Holly said

"I thought mutants didn't get sick, now get going" he said before glancing at Hellblade and X-23

"Who are you two?" he demanded sharply

"I'm Laura Kinney" X-23 said, he turned to look at Hellblade

"And you?" the vampire remained silent for a few seconds, enjoying the look on Kelly's face

"Me? I'm new here" he said

"I know that, who are you? What's your name?" he snapped

"Ask the Xavier Institutes liaison, she should be able to give you my file" he said before turning around and walking away, having to fight very hard to not laugh the at the irritating, mutant-hating mans expression

"I don't think that was a good idea Valon" Rogue warned him, he laughed

"Compared to Wolverine when he's drunk, the Principals nothing" he said

"What's Wolverine like when he's drunk?" Rogue asked

"Well, I wouldn't advise challenging him to a drinking contest, put it that way" he told them to a chorus of laughs

A little while later… 

"Go long Sarin" Joey called as the mutant fixed his eyes on the pigskin as it sailed gracefully through the air towards him; he leapt into the air and clamped a hand onto the ball before rolling along the ground as he hit it

"Nice catch" Dana called from the bleachers, Jake looked over to where Roberto Da Costa was sitting, swigging an energy drink

"Yo Da Costa, you're up" he called, Roberto took a last swig, the others watched as his eyes flashed a look of surprise and fear as he coughed, dropped the bottle and sprayed green energy drink over the filed, the green liquid blending in with the rich grass as he kept coughing

"Hey you O.K Sunspot?" Berserker asked as his friend got the worst of the coughing under control and stood up

"I'm fine, it's happened a lot lately" he said, wiping the last traces of green energy drink from his face

"What d'you mean 'it's happened a lot lately'?" Berserker asked

"I've been starting to cough for no reason, it's probably no big deal" Roberto said, Berserker didn't look like he believed him

"I don't know man, you oughta tell Storm or someone about it" Roberto shrugged

"Nah, besides, Duncan or Principal Kelly would pull me from the team the first chance they got" he replied, Sarin threw the ball back to Joey, who caught it in one hand

"Good point" Jake said before returning to the practice, Sunspot grabbed a towel and wiped the sticky green drink from his face and hands, then looked down, the white towel wasn't just stained green, it was also a deep, blood, red. He grabbed the half full bottle of energy drink and headed off shouting "I need to see Storm" to Sarin before heading indoors, not noticing the scowling blond jock sulking around nearby

Joey passed the ball to Berserker, spotting two gothic dressed teens approaching

"Hey" he called to Hellblade, who gave him a surprised look

"Wanna join us? We're short a man" the vampire shook his head

"No thank you, I'm not really into American football" he shouted back

"I'll give it a shot" X-23 called

"Sure, come on over" Joey called as the clone jogged towards them

"This should be interesting" Hellblade said to Dana and Amara, taking a seat on the bleachers

"How come you didn't say yes? You'd cream them" Dana asked, Hellblade smiled, Dana noticed there was a hint of sadness in it

"That's the problem, I don't want to accidentally hurt someone, and risk giving that Anti-Semitic imbecile of a Principal the chance to expel me, or any of you"

"I'm guessing you've met Principal Kelly?" Amara asked, Hellblade nodded

"He's more of an irritation, compared to the Red Skull" he gave X-23 a wave of encouragement

"What sort of practise are you going to do?" X-23 asked

"One without you in it freak" a brash voice said, all members of the team cursed silently as Duncan appeared

"I'll fill in, beat it" he snapped at X-23

"She was here first" Jake said calmly

"I'm the Captain Collins, when you are you can decide whether muties train with the team or not" Duncan sneered

"Care to make a bet on that?" Joey asked "Me, Sarin, Ray, Jake, Laura and Zander against you and five others, first to three touchdowns wins. We win you quit as Captain and anyone can train with the team if they want" Duncan's mouth split open in a smirk

"And if my team wins?"

"We quit the team" Sarin said

"That's fine by me" Duncan said and he and Jake shook on it

"Be here with your team after school" Jake told him

"Really? That's a shame" he waved someone over, Blob, Quicksilver, Avalanche and Toad stepped out form behind the bleachers

"Cause I was thinking we'd be playing here and now"

In chapter three – X-23 meets the Brotherhood for the first time, and Quicksilver quickly catches the clones eye

To be continued, all reviews are appreicated

Also, how many readers would be interested in a Pietro/X-23 pairing?


	3. Mutant Football Part 2

Sorry for the long absence, I had a bad case of writers block, not too if this chapter is up to my usual standard bu t I'm slwoly getting my writing back on track

Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men or X-Men: Evolution, my OCs are all mine though

Chapter Three: Mutant Football Part 2

The two groups assembled mutants and humans started each other down

"O.K guys what gives, you're seriously on his side?" Berserker asked the Brotherhood

"We don't really like the guy…" Toad started

"…But we like you guys even less" Lance finished, shooting Hellblade a dirty look, the vampire returned to glare from where he was up in the stands

"How come you and Lance are at each others throats?" Dana asked

"It's complicated" Kitty said, phasing up to sit on the bleachers

"So, whose side are you on?" Hellblade asked Kitty

"Neither Valon, I'm just watching the game" she replied, giving him the faintest of smiles, Amara looked at Dana and rolled her eyes, Dana had to fight hard to suppress a small giggle, her new roommate Rachel had told her all about what had gone down in Washington

The game started and Lance quickly threw the ball to Pietro, who vanished from sight, then re-appeared on the touchdown line

"Hey, you didn't say anything about powers" Jake shouted at Duncan who shrugged

"You never asked" Pietro lifted his arm up, preparing to hurl the ball down for a touchdown, then he was lifted up by a grey cloud, carried all the way back to his teams side of the field and dumped face first onto the grass when the cloud dissipated

"Hey!" Duncan snapped

"You never said we couldn't use our powers" Zander said, floating just above the green grass of the field on two tiny white clouds, one supporting each foot. The clouds sank to the field and disappeared as Zander picked up the ball that Pietro had dropped, and delivered an easy touchdown

Kitty and Dana broke into cheers in the stands as the X-Men's team fell back tot heir side of the field

"Come on Blob, let's take these guys down" Toad said and hopping on his friends back the two rushed at their mutant and human opponents as the ball was kicked. Joey ran at them and sidestepped the Blob as the behemoth ran past him, then grabbed Toad and tore him from Blobs back. Toad sneered, "Bad move" and spat green slime in his face

As Joey fell to his knees and clawed at the gunk on his face X-23 rushed over and extending a single claw she carefully sliced the green slime off Joeys face

"Thanks Laura" he said, climbing to his feet, the two looked at each other for a second, lost in each others eyes

'He has such deep blue eyes, they're like a mountain stream' X-23 thought

'Her eyes, they're so bright and clear, like emeralds' Joey thought, as they remained still, lost in the moment

"Shouldn't you get back to the game?" a voice called to the pair, who quickly snapped out of it and ran back to join their team-mates

"What was she thinking, acting like that in the middle of such a serious game?" Hellblade huffed, scowling at Joey, suddenly viewing him as the embodiment of everything wrong with the world

"Chill Val, you're acting like her older brother" Kitty noted

"I am not," he growled, suddenly paying much more attention to the game and watching X-23 and Joey with great interest than he had before

Pietro shot forwards an appeared between X-23 and Joey

"Yo babycakes, what's up?" he asked, tossing the ball from one hand to the other. Shooting him a glare she readied herself for a tackle, only to see Joey leap forwards and promptly deliver a crushing tackle of his own to the speedster. The pair went down and X-23 gave Joey a surprised look as he stood up

"Guess that pickup line doesn't work on you huh?" he asked

"I guess it doesn't" she said, giving him a small smile before he took off up the field with the ball, pressing home the attack

Lance stepped in front of him as he ran

"You aint getting nowhere Collins" he declared, his eyes rolling back in his sockets as he used his seismic powers. Joey was thrown forwards onto the ground and a smile appeared on Lances face as he put more effort into it, upping the magnitude of the quake more and more, until…

"Ack!" Lance chocked and a spurt of blood shot from his mouth

"Well that's gross" Dana noted as he dropped to his knees and began retching, more blood coming out of his mouth and staining the grass next to his hands deep crimson

Across the field Zander dropped to his knees as well, retching and spilling blood onto the field

"What's going…" was all Pietro could get out before he too started retching and clutched his stomach, wavering on his feet as if he'd been stabbed

"Kitty, go get Ororo" Hellblade said and the phasing mutant sank through the bleachers and headed off inside the school

Inside Storm and the blood stained Sunspot looked out of the window at the mutants on the field. She felt a irritation in her throat and coughed into her fist, when she pulled it away it was stained with a few tiny droplets of blood, one question was on her mind

'What in the world is going on?'

In the next chapter – Nick Fury appears at the Institute; SHIELD takes drastic action and one of the X-Men takes a sudden turn for the worse

To be contuned, now review, review, review!


	4. Government Lockdown

Sorry about not updating sooner, College's getting pretty hecktic since it's nearly shudder exam time

Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men or X-Men: Evolution, Maria Hill's owned by DC

Chapter Four: Government Lockdown

The afternoon sunshine shone through the wide windows, the particles of dust could be seen swirling around in the air in the quiet lounge, the plush white leather couch was empty; the rooms only occupant was slumped in the equally plush, comfy armchair.

Cyclops stretched out in the soft armchair and yawned. He and Jean had spent the last few days with their daughter, they'd been to the amusement park, the pier, the movies and more clubs and cafes the he could count. He'd learnt a lot about Rachel and was happy they'd done it, even if it had left him almost comatose, and it had driven all thoughts of Alex from his mind

At that moment his thoughts switched back to his little brother, he thought Rachel would have loved to get to know her uncle and that they were a lot alike, more alike than Rachel and he were at least. He wondered if she knew him in her future, of if he'd died along with everyone else back at the Institute. He decided to ask her when she got back from the mall with her mom, but at the same time knew it would have no effect on Alex's current situation, even if he'd recovered in her future, that timeline was gone for good and just because he'd recovered in that one, it wouldn't mean he'd recover now

Beneath his ruby shades his eyelids grew heavier and heavier and he drifted into a light doze

_Scott waved goodbye to his brother as the tanned couple from Hawaii bundled him into their car and drove away as the heavens opened up on that dreary day in Nebraska. Even after he'd lost sight of the car in the bucketing rain he stayed rooted to that spot. He knew he should go back and get his umbrella or he'd catch a cold, but he didn't care, his brother was all the family he had left and he'd gone to, finally, he was all alone and he hated it. Then he felt a cold hand clamp down on his shoulder_

"_Come on Scott, let's go back inside" Mr Essex said to him, Scott remembered the man, he was the one who owned and ran the orphanage and he'd always taken an interest in him and his brother. Scott knew he meant well but with the mans jet black hair, deathly white skin, his black suits and the way he always kept his eyes hidden he didn't do much to endear himself to his charges. Scott always thought he looked like a vampire_

_And besides, there was something about him; Scott didn't know what or why, that made him feel scared whenever he was nearby_

"_Mister Essex, do you think I'll see Alex again?" he asked, Mr Essex smiled a crocodiles smile_

"Anything can happen Scott, the world's a big place" 

The door to the lounge opened and woke Scott from his slumber

"Who's there?" he muttered, still half-asleep, Jean used her powers to open the window to let in some fresh air as she replied

"Scott, it's us" Scott barley had time to process that information before he got the wind knocked out of him by a ton of bags getting dropped on him

"Look dad, me and mom got all these great clothes" Rachel exclaimed happily

"Are you sure this is…appropriate?" Scott asked, holding up two halter-tops and a miniskirt that had fallen out of one of the bags

"Relax dad, all the girls wear them" Rachel told him, unable to suppress a small smile at the look which crossed Scott's face

"_Relax Scott, you look like she just told you she's dating Sabertooth"_ Jena told her boyfriend telepathically

"Well, I guess its O.K, as long as you only wear them indoors"

"Daaaaaad!" Rachel whined, this time Scott smiled, thinking 'she's so much like Alex it's scary'

The prefect family moment was spoiled by the sound of blades slicing through the air and all three of them ran to the window of the lounge and could barely believe the scene unfolding before their eyes

A small fleet of helicopters were hovering over the Institute and yet more were on the horizon. Rachel, Jean and Scott all recognised the insignia on the sides of the pitch-black machines.

"What are SHEILD doing here?" Scott growled, knowing that it wasn't like SHIELD, or its Director Nick Fury, to make house calls unless there was something very bad about to take place

One of the helicopters touched down on the lawn outside the mansion and its door slid open. To the X-Men's surprise a woman, not Nick Fury, got out. Flanked by two burly men she strode forwards up to the door of the mansion and knocked firmly on it. Beast opened the door and Scott saw the woman walk (or rather barge) her way inside

"Come on, let's see what's going on" he told Rachel and Jean who followed him as he made his way to the foyer where Beast and the woman were talking.

As he got closer he saw the woman in more detail. Her dark brown hair was cut short in standard military detail, her well-tanned Caucasian skin combined with the all black SHEILD bodysuit she was wearing gave her a very dark and foreboding presence, like a harbinger of death and doom. It was her eyes that caught Scott's attention the most, dark brown pools of absolute calm and confidence, as if she already knew she'd exactly what it was she'd come her to do and complete

"Ah, Scott, this is…" Beast started

"Maria Hill, Assistant Director of SHEILD, I'm here to see my superior, Nick Fury" she butted in, her voice was firm and formal but with the faintest hint of compassion and respect that made Scott feel that this woman could be trusted

"He's here?" Jean asked her. She nodded curtly before replying

"Yes, he flew ahead to inform you of our mandate"

"What mandate?" Scott asked

"The Xavier Institute for gifted youngsters is under SHEILD enforced Level 10 quarantine by order of the President of the United States and the United Nations Security Council, effective immediately"

"What!" he yelled in response, Maria Hill didn't so much as flinch before replying

"I apologize, Director Fury was supposed to have informed all for you ahead of the enacting of the quarantine" the faint trace of sincerity in her voice was all that kept Scott from blasting her and her two bodyguards

"Calm down Summers, Agent Hill could take you out before you so much as took off those shades" a firm voice said, Scott saw Nick Fury, Professor Xavier, Rogue and Wolverine enter the lounge

"Jena, please contact the school and inform them that all students still there need to return here immediately" he told her before turning around wheeling away

"Professor what's going on?" Scott asked

"Scott, find everyone you can and tell them to meet me in my office in five minutes" the professor said as he continued moving away Scott stepped in front of his chair

"Tell me what's going on!" he demanded

"There's been a new disease discovered that only infects mutants. It is extremely dangerous" the Professor replied

"What's so bad about it?" Rachel asked. There was a violent retching sound behind them as Rogue vomited up a torrent of dark red blood and collapsed to the floor, shivering violently, Nick Fury looked Scott in the eyes

"That"

In the next chapter – SHEILD calls in its top doctors to try and find the source of this deadly new virus, but why does one of them scare Scott so badly?

To be continued, please reivew

Deadpool: Yea, or else!

Me: Ignore him, I do, with any luck he'll go away

Deadpool: Don't count on it!!

Me: Seeya next chapter everyone


	5. Epidemic

Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men or X-Men: Evolution, Dr Doom, Tony Stark and Reed Richards are all owned by Marvel comics

Sorry for the late update, writers block and college have been getting in my way

And a big thank you to everyone whose reviewed so far, it means a lot

Chapter Five: Epidemic

Scott led the other X-Men he'd been able to find down the corridor to the Professor's office and found the door already open. Inside the Professor was sat behind his desk, pouring over a map with Maria Hill, she looked up, nodded slightly at Scott before walking past the group and disappearing down the corridor. Xavier looked up at the group assembled and saw that a few familiar faces were missing. Sunspot, Storm, Rogue, Zander and even Pietro and Lance from the Brotherhood were all below ground in the infirmary, the Professor cleared his throat before starting

"As you've probably noticed, the Institute has been placed under government lockdown. This lockdown will remain until further notice"

"Why?" Ragoul asked

"There has been a new virus discovered, and it is apparently contagious to mutants"

"Is that what happened to Zander?" Rahne asked, the Professor nodded

"I'm afraid so, the virus has only appeared in Bayville so far and SHEILD is determined that it won't spread any further, so the quarantine lockdown has been imposed, which I fully support, until further notice no-one will be allowed to set foot outside the grounds of the Institute"

"What about everyone at school?" Rachel asked

"They will be brought back here as soon as possible, SHEILD is on their way to collect them now"

'That ought to be interesting' Rachel thought

Back at Bayville High, Kitty, Hellblade, Kurt and Sarin were all sitting in English when the door opened and Maria Hill, in civilian attire walked into the room

"Can I help you?" the teacher asked politely

"I'm here to collect the Xavier Institute students from this class, there's a situation at the Institute" she replied, holding out a FBI badge

"Ha, looks like they're finally rounded you all up!" a boy jeered from the back of the class

"Watch it you little…" Joey snapped before Maria Hill interrupted him

"Tell me mister Pierce, has your chronic bed wetting stopped yet?" she asked, the boy blushed crimson and lowered his head to a chorus of laughter from the other students

"Wagner, Kandra, Pryde, Solarna, go with Agent Hill" the teacher said, fighting back a smile of his own. The X-Men stood up and followed Maria Hill outside

"What's going on?" Sarin demanded, Agent Hill didn't turn around and kept walking as she replied

"Like I said, there's a situation and you need to get back to the Institute as soon as possible"

"What situation, what're you talking about?" he demanded

"Professor Xavier will fill you in when you get back now hurry up" Agent Hill snapped, getting irritated

"What about the other students?" Kitty asked

"Other agents will get them now come on", Hellblade fell back to walk alongside Kurt

"If SHEILD see Laura here she'll be in serious danger, can you get her back to the Institute without anyone seeing you?" he asked, Kurt nodded and teleported away in a puff of smoke

"Where did Wagner go?" Agent Hill demanded

"He had to get something from his locker, he'll go straight to the Institute after he's got it" Hellblade told her

"The hell he is, where's his locker? I'll drag that elf there myself" she declared

"Do you really want to waste time trying to catch a teleporter?" Hellblade asked, Agent Hill was fuming

"Fine! Hurry up!" she snapped striding off down the hallway, the X-Men hurriedly followed her

The next few hours passed in a blur for the X-Men. More and more helicopters landed and more soldiers took up positions around the Institute

Eventually Sarin and Berserker got bored with sitting up in their room and headed downstairs to see what was happening. They found Beast in the foyer talking to two men, the first was a man in an expensive looking suit with black hair and a tightly trimmed goatee, the second was dressed in a lab coat and a odd looking costume with a large 4 on the upper left part of the chest, he had medium brown hair with two grey streaks at the bottom

"Hey Dr McCoy, what's happening?" Berserker asked

"Oh hello Ray, these are two of the scientists SHEILD's flown in to study the virus"

"I'm Tony Stark" the black haired man said

"The Tony Stark, CEO of Stark Enterprises?" Sarin asked

"The same" he replied

"How do you know ho he is?" Berserker asked

"Zander told me, his company works with his parents company" Sarin replied

"And I'm…" the other man started

"..Reed Richards, from the Fantastic Four" Dana said from behind them, Reed smiled

"Yes, I take it you've heard of me?"

"You guys saved me a few years ago, when the Mole Man went on that rampage" she replied

"Oh yes now I remember, it's hard to when you're so busy"

"S'OK, how come you're here?" she asked

"SHEILD invited us to study this new virus and try and come up with a cure. We were just about to go down to your infirmary to study the patients" Tony Stark answered

"Can we come to? We wanna check up on Zander" Sarin asked Beast

"You can for me, you two don't object do you?" he asked

"It's fine with me, just be careful" Tony Stark replied

"I have no problem with it, it would keep their spirits up" Reed answered and they all headed to the elevator

A few minutes later they all stepped out of the elevator and walked into the infirmary. The three young mutants were all shocked by what they saw. The normally empty infirmary was a buzz of activity, men and women in full biohazard suits were rushing about and every bed was behind a clear plastic curtain. Storm, Sunspot and the others were all lying in their beds with diodes attached to their arms and foreheads and IVs hooked into their arms.

They passed a bed occupied by Avalanche, he was coughing violently and the front of his shirt was stained with blood, Kitty was weeping in a chair by his bedside, with Hellblade standing next to her, resting a hand on her shoulder, a grim look on his face.

They walked further on to see Wanda sitting next to her brother's bed with the other Brotherhood members

"What're you guys doing here?" Sarin asked

"What does it look like we're doing here?" Blob snapped, wiping a tear from his eye, Toad hopped back over and handed Wanda a tissue which she accepted without blasting him with a hex bolt

The next bed over was taken by Zander; Dana covered her mouth, her eyes filling with tears before throwing herself into Sarin's arms and sobbing uncontrollably. He embraced her, feeling guilty but at the same time happy she'd gone to him while his best friend was lying in the bed in front of him, dying

"Is there any improvement?" Berserker asked Beast

"None, it's getting slowly worse"

"Isn't there anything you can do?" he asked

"We can make him and the others comfortable, but for now that's all we can do"

"Then what's the point in doing all this if you can't save him?!" Dana screamed at Beast before running off at superspeed, Sarin looked at Beast apologetically before running after her

"I'm sure she didn't mean it Hank" Reed said

"I know Ray, I know" he replied before walking off, Reeds words making little difference

Dana and Sarin went past Scott, Jean and Rachel as they entered the infirmary to be greeted by Beast

"How's it going Dr McCoy?" Scott asked

"Not too well, there should be another shipload of scientists arriving soon, maybe they'll have better luck figuring this out" he replied as the door behind them opened and the group of aforementioned scientists entered the room

"Sir that's really not sanitary clothing…" a SHEILD agent tried to tell one of them

"Doom was asked here as a courtesy by your government, do not lecture me on my attire" a man wearing a green coat and armour snapped as he strode into the room, casting a dirty glance at Reed before moving to Sunspots bed and looking at the readouts on the monitors

"If you think he's bad now, you should've seen him on the ride here" a voice said form behind them, Scott and the others turned around to see one of the scientists was still standing there. He was a man in his late forties with greying black hair, pale skin and dark brown eyes and dressed in a black suit

"I'm Essex, Nathan Essex" the man said, holding out a hand to Beast who shook it

"Nice to meet you Dr Essex. I hope we'll crack this with your help" Dr Essex turned to look at Scott

"I think we most defiantly will" his voice held no malice, but chilled Scott to the very core of his soul

"What's wrong Scott?" jean asked after Dr Essex and Beast had walked away

"I don't know" he looked at the departing doctor

"But I don't like this, not one bit"

In the next chapter –More mutants are brought to the Institute and tensions within its walls reach breaking point

To be continued

You know the drill, reivew, review, review


	6. Cabin Fever

Disclaimer: Take it Deadpool

**Deadpool: He don't own the X-Men and he sure as hell don't own X-Men: Evolution, Black Panther and Dr Pym/Ant Man are owned by Marvel, just like lil' old me!**

Sorry I was late in updating, stuff got in the way

**Deadpool: He means he put off his college work till the last second then rushed it like a road runner on crack**

Me: Actually I've been busy with coursework

**Deadpool: See, wha'd I say? He rushed it**

Me: That's it, no more yellow boxes for a month mister

**Deadpool: Aww come on, I didn't mean it**

Me: Tough, enjoy the new chapter folks

Chapter Six: Cabin Fever

Up above the infirmary, the other mutants were gathered in the lounge, sitting in front of the TV, watching a movie and unsure of what else to do. They heard a door open and close and saw Katie float into the room

"How's thing's down in the infirmary?" Jubilee asked

"Not good, more and more doctors keep coming but all they do is keep arguing with each other over whose idea's right" Taipan put down the remote

"SSSo everyone'sss ssstill ssssick?"

"Yea, they wheeled Bryce and Amara in as I was leaving" she told them, reaching for a bowl of popcorn that sat on the couch next to Fathom, only for it to sink into the shadow cast over the sofa. Shroud jump up out of the shadows near the door clutching it in her hands

"Heh, I never get tired of that" she remarked, grabbing a handful and shoving it into her mouth

"What are you doing here?" Kurt demanded, Typhus walked through the door with Vermillion bringing up the rear, Kurt was reminded of a mafia don and his bodyguard

"Chill elf, the Brotherhood are either sick or down in the infirmary, me, Cassius and Shroud aren't as close as the others so we figured we'd give them some space, and we thought we'd see how our favourite mutants were doing"

"Fine, but it doesn't mean we have to like it" Jubilee snapped, Kurt teleported over to Shroud and tried to grab the popcorn bowl back only for Shroud to sink back into the shadows

She re-emerged across the room and Jubilee fired a firework blast at her, knocking the bowel out of her hands. Cassius grabbed it and Taipan snatched it from him. This went on for a few minutes and ended up with Jubilee, Cassius, Shroud and Taipan in the middle of the room, Taipan tightened his grip

"That'sss our popcorn, 'friend'" Cassius tugged it towards him

"I don't see your name on it, 'buddy'" he retorted, activating his crystal armour and clenching the bowl more firmly

"We had it first, 'pal'" Jubilee said dangerously, charging up her hands, cracks started to appear in the bowl

A flaming spike shot into the bowl and knocked it out of all their hands and into the hands of the mutant who'd thrown it

"Tense much?" Spyke asked, spearing a few kernels on a spike

"Who're you?" Katie asked

"Hey Evan, long time no see" Kurt said, teleporting over to his old friend

"Hey Kurt, is it true my aunts sick?"

"I'm afraid so, so's Rogue, even Lance and Quicksilver are"

"So, who are you again?" Fathom asked

"I'm Evan, Storm's my aunt, I was an X-Man before my mutation kicked into high gear, now I look like this and I run with a gang of other freaks, we're called the Morlocks"

"And you're here to see Storm?" Jubilee asked

"Yea, plus Callisto, Salamander and a couple of other Morlocks have gotten sick, and SHEILD said it'd be a good idea if we brought them here"

"And the other Morlocks are down in the infirmary?"

"No, not all" a dreary voice said as a pale skinned mutant stuck his head round the door

"It's okay Caliban, no-one's gonna hurt you here" Evan reassured him, Caliban reluctantly walked into the room, slightly hunched over and keeping his gaze aimed steadily at the floor

"Why're you scared?" Jubilee asked

"Caliban…was attacked by some men awhile ago" Caliban murmured

"Do you mean those thugs, the Patriots Of Humanity?" Kurt asked

"Yes, they were most unkind to Caliban" Caliban muttered

"Don't worry about them, they were jerksss to me too" Taipan said, slithering over to Caliban

"Caliban thinks you are right, snake boy"

"I'm called Taipan, my freindsss call me Tai"

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Tai" Caliban replied

"Is there anyone else here we should know about?" Kurt asked Evan

"I think I saw Forge and Archangel down in the infirmary but that's about it. There's about forty eight here now if you count the sick ones" Evan replied

"Forty nine" Caliban added

"Forge and the Morlocks make forty eight, that's what SHEILD said"

"Caliban can sense forty nine mutants, or something that is part mutant"

"Is that your power?" Kurt asked

"Yes, Caliban is very good at finding people" Caliban replied "And he's never wrong" Evan added

"Mister Fantastic's here, his powers are pretty similar to a mutants" Jubilee said

"No, Caliban can sense him, he is not the extra one"

"Well, there is that vampire guy, Hellblade, nobody's really sure what he is" Katie said

"I saw SHEILD's files, SHEILD's classed him as a mutant, he's one of the forty eight" Evan replied

"Then who is the forty ninth?" Jubilee wondered out loud, a question no one there could answer

Down in the infirmary one of the mutants was taking a turn for the worse. Lance coughed violently and went into convulsions

"What's happening?" Kitty cried as the scientists and doctors crowded around Lance's bed

"Dr McCoy, what happened?" Reed asked

"I don't know, his vitals just crashed" Beast yelled over the loud beeping of the life support machines, working overtime to keep the dying mutant stable

"Get Archangel over here and prep that machine Forge made" Tony Stark yelled. Warren ran over and quickly drew out a unit of his healing blood, he threw it across Lances bed to Beast who got it hooked up on his IV stand. As the red blood ran down the tube into Lance his breathing stabilised and he stopped coughing as violently

"Did it work?" Reed asked, unable to see the life support readouts

"Not for long, Warren's blood only seem to stop the disease temporarily" Beast told him

"We should just drain the winged mutant dry" Dr Doom thought out loud

"Shut up Doom, you're not helping" a blond haired man snapped

"In any other situation I would slay you for your comment Pym" Doom snapped, glaring at him through the eye holes in his titanium mask as an African-American man in a black costume handed a small device over to Reed, it was about three inches across and it looked like a steel starfish with a glowing green circle in the centre

"Here it is, I helped Forge to finish it just now"

"Thank you T'challa" Reed replied, placing the device on Lances chest, half of the green circle immediately switched to red as it latched onto the mutant

"WHAT'S GOING ON!" Kitty cried, desperate to know how her boyfriend was doing

"His immune system just crashed, we've managed to get him stable with Archangel's blood and a device made by the Black Panther and Forge" Beast told her

"So he's cured? He's gonna be okay?" Kitty asked hopefully, Hellblade sighed sadly, knowing full well what Beast was going to say, he felt Kitty knew too, but didn't want to believe it, or accept it

"I wish I could say yes Kitty, I really do"

"So…so what's going to happen?" Beast pointed down at the device now attached to Lances chest

"The device Forge and the Black Panther made was only a monitoring device, when that green circle turns red, that's when the virus will have overtaken his body, he'll die a few minutes later, I'm truly, truly sorry Kitty" Beast said sadly, everyone present, even Dr Doom, bowed their heads as Kitty rested her head on Lances chest and quietly wept. Everyone present knew just how hopeless Lances situation was and that they, the greatest minds on the planet, had tried, and failed, to save a girls love

"I think we should give them some privacy" Hellblade said, and the all walked away as Reed pulled a curtain around the bed, blocking Lance and Kitty from view

"I still think that the healing factor of Worthington could be effective"

"Like I said, shut up Doom, it would need to be about five times stronger, at least" Dr Pym snapped

"It's a shame there isn't a healing factor like that, it could save him for sure" Dr Essex thought out loud. Hellblade suddenly realised what he had to do, looking around he saw only he was still near Lance's bed and he quickly pushed the curtain aside and slipped in. Kitty looked up at him

"Kitty…" she stood up to face him

"Yes Valon?" his hand shot out and put pressure on a certain nerve on her left shoulder

"…take care of Laura for me" he said softly as she slumped into unconsciousness and he placed her back in the chair she'd been sitting in

He grabbed a scalpel from a nearby tray and opened up a shallow incision on Lances left arm, and then dragged the blade across his right hand

"Logan is going to kill me for doing this" he thought out loud as he held his right palm out flat, a single drop of his own dark red blood fell down and landed into the cut on Lances arm, it immediately set to work

Lance let out a low groan and opened his eyes as the curtain around his bed was pulled back

"He's awake" Doom cried

"It's a miracle" Beast exclaimed, the sounds of violent coughing caught their attention as Hellblade leaned on the side of the bed for support, blood dripping form his mouth and staining his hand red

"Not really" he said before collapsing, as the scientists rushed to help him, one stayed back and tied to mask the smile form his face

"Perfect, everything's going just as planned" he said quietly

Upstairs X-23 shuddered

"Something wrong Laura?" Fathom asked

"I'm not sure" she replied, unaware of the drama unfolding down below

In the next chapter – The scientists discover a cure for the deadly virus, but are they willing to use it at such a high cost?

To be continued, all reviews are appreciated and they help encourage me to get the new chapter done faster


	7. The Cure Being Worse Than The Disease

Disclaimer: I don't own the X-men, X-men: Evolution, Mr Sinister and Norman Osbourn are all owned by Marvel, my OCs are mine though

Thanks everyone who took the time to review, you're a great motivation to get this fic done

Sorry for the long delay between pots, writers block and impending college exams are taking their toll, I'll try to get this fic finished in about a week but no promises

Chapter Seven: The Cure Being Worse Than The Disease

_Tibet, 1889_

_The man, donned in heavy winter clothing focused on one thing, moving forwards, everything else, even the reason he'd gone to such an accursed and desolate place, was pushed from his mind_

'_Keep moving forward Nathaniel, put one foot in front of the other, then put the other foot forwards and repeat, don't think about anything else, just keep going, if you don't you'll freeze' the man slowly progressed further up the mountain, the sherpas he'd hired as his guides had turned on him, robbed him of his valuables and then took off back down the mountain, leaving him there to freeze_

_Through the howling snowstorm he saw the giant stone door appear in the face of the mountain, just as the tablet in the British Museum had described it, he staggered towards it and pulled out the small intricately carved key that he'd bought at the village below the mountain and pressed it to the front of the door, nothing happened, he'd been tricked_

_In anger he threw the stone key down onto the frozen ground, breaking it into a hundred pieces, which were swept off the mountain by the howling wind and sank to his knees, giving up all hope of finding what he sought, then through the howling snowstorm he saw it, a small crack in the mountain right next to the door, crawling closer he saw it went deeper into the mountain_

'Why not? At least I won't freeze out here' he thought, and crawled inside, disappearing into the heart of the mountain

Bayville, present day

As Lance slowly rose up to a sitting position his cloudy vision made out a number of figures all rushing around him, his vision slowly improved and the world swam back into focus, he quickly made out the face of his girlfriend, Kitty, slumped in a chair as well as several men in lab coats crouching down next to someone on the floor, craning his neck to look over the edge of his bed he saw it was his rival for Kitty's affections, Hellblade and the vampire didn't look a lot better than he felt at that moment, not knowing what was going on he called out his beloved's name

"Kitty…?" she slowly opened her eyes and turned to look at him, a happy smile spreading across her tear streak stained face

"Yeah Lance, I'm here," she said in a soft voice

"What's going on? Where am I?" he asked, she looked at him and something went in her mind, it wasn't a dream, he was really talking to her, he wasn't going to die, he was going to be O.K, suddenly Lance found her pressed to his chest, sobbing

"Lance, you're O.K, you're not gonna die" he stroked her hair with his left hand, he could smell the coconut and lavender form her shampoo and welcomed it, the smell of her hair, her warmth, her beautiful blue eyes, he'd forgotten so many things about her, so many things he loved. He didn't know how, he didn't know why but someone, something had given him another shot, another shot at life with her and he wasn't going to waste it

"Yea, I'm feeling a lot better suddenly, almost like magic or something" she looked up, the numbness in her body was wearing off, only her shoulder was still numb and she remembered why

"He didn't, if has I'll…" she thought out loud, pulling away form Lance and looking around, noticing the blood pool on the floor next to Lances bed and seeing a bed further away which all the scientists were now crowded around, realising Lances recovery wasn't a miracle she rushed over, phasing through the torso of Tony Stark to see Hellblade lying in the bed, hooked up to just about every kind of medical monitor imaginable

"You idiot, why'd you have to go and do that?" she yelled, phasing through the scientists and beating the unconscious vampire weakly with her fists as he lay motionless in the bed, after a few blows she stopped and instead rested her hands on his chest, coming to terms with the sacrifice he'd made for her

"Aren't you going to separate them?" Dr Pym asked Reed, who shook his head

"Not now, let's give her a little time" Pym glanced at Dr Doom

"And aren't you going to object?" Doom shot him a dark look

"No, Doom knows what it is like to lose someone you love" he replied sadly, the tiniest flicker of sympathy flaring in his blackened heart

After a few minutes Reed looked to Beast and nodded, Beast slowly put his hands on Kitty's shoulder

"Come on Kitty, let them work on him, there's nothing you can do" she didn't reply but slowly straightened up and let Beast guide her back to Lance's bed and she sank into the chair next to it

"What's happened Professor McCoy? Last thing I can remember is playing football against your students" Lance asked Beast, not knowing how long he'd been unconscious and not knowing what he was doing in the Institute's infirmary

"You got sick, so did my brother, you got really bad, so bad you were about to die. Then the vampire healed you but's got really sick too as a result" Wanda snapped at him before continuing "Kitty's tearing herself up inside about it because she's got you back but at the cost of Hellblade's life, she knows he did it for her and now she blames herself for it, that answer your question?" the bitterness in her voice was plain to see, Lance realised she wasn't feeling any happier about it than Kitty was. Beast didn't need heightened sense to realise she was jealous, why had Lance taken priority over her brother? The only family she'd known for years? The only family she had left?

Wanda turned back to her brother and Toad hopped over

"Lance, Wanda's just upset about Pietro, she doesn't blame you for this man, nobody does" he re-assured his friend laying a comforting hand on his shoulder, Lance didn't swat it away

"Yea, but I do" he replied solemnly, not looking any of them in the eye, Toad hopped back over to Wanda

"He healed the Avalanche boy?"

"Yes, maybe his blood's the key"

"It's certainly possible but we'll need to take a sample" Reed and Tony Stark discussed quietly before Reed waked slowly forwards

"Miss Pryde, you need to let us study him"

"What the point? He's going to die form this plague anyway"

"Not at all, if we can study him, we might be able to come up with a cure" Kitty remained where she was, Doom beckoned beast over and the blue furred mutant calmly put his hands on Kitty's shoulders

"Kitty, they can save him, they can save Rogue, Storm, everyone who's got this virus if they can study him, please let them" he said softly, she looked up and slowly rose, phasing through them all as she walked away

"That could be a very hard promise to keep Dr McCoy," the Black Panther said to Beast

"I know, now let's not make me break it" he replied, all the scientists present quickly hurried off to their work stations, not wanting to break Beast's promise to Kitty

An hour later Reed pushed his goggles up off his eyes leaned back in his chair and stretched his arm to the other side of the lab, grabbed the latest printout of data and pulled it back, sighing as he saw what it said, there had been progress, even enough for an effective cure, but not one he thought they could ever bring themselves to use, he called the others together to tell them the bad news

"Any luck?" Beast asked, Reed shook his head

"None, Hellblade's blood's more powerful than Mr Worthington's but it's still not strong enough, it can stave off the virus for a lot longer but not stop it"

"How much longer does it hold the virus at bay?" Doom asked

"About three or four times as long, depending on the stage of infection"

"Has the antibody that fights the virus been located?" Dr Pym asked

"No, that's what's so odd, it isn't really an antibody, it's an enzyme released as the cells in the blood breakdown"

"I'm not an expert in biology but couldn't we just synthesise the enzyme?" Forge asked, already getting an idea for a device to do it in his mind

"No, it dissipates too quickly, I found the same results in Mr Worthington's blood"

"Mutants can produce this enzyme as well?" Beast asked

"It seems so, Hellblade's blood just creates more of it so it was easier to detect, once I knew what I was looking for, I found it in all the blood samples we've taken from the infected mutants"

"So there's no way to synthesise this enzyme?" Pym asked

"It's not impossible, but it breaks down into amino acids too fast for me to study its make up, if it lasted for longer I probably could synthesise it"

"So you'd need more blood, how much?" Beast asked, his hopes rising

"The enzyme appears as soon as the blood leaves the body, we'd need to take a huge amount, it would be lethal to lose that much"

"So in other words…"

"A mutant has to die in order for us to develop a cure," Reed told Beast

"So, what do we do?" Forge asked

"Honestly, I haven't a clue" Beast replied

"We should take this to Colonel Fury and see what he's got to say about this"

_Five minutes later…_

"Just jab the worst infected mutant, they're a lost cause anyway" Agent Hill said

"What?" Beast asked, not sure if he'd heard her correctly

"I'm not even going to entertain that thought" Professor X replied

"Ever heard the phrase 'the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one'? It was coined for times like this" Agent Hill said

"We can't in good conscience just kill a mutant, I won't allow it" Reed exclaimed

"I won't either" Tony Stark added

"You western fools are too naïve to see a good solution when it is presented to you" Dr Doom muttered loudly, Colonel Fury remained where he was standing by the window in Xavier's study as he gave his response

"No, there's another way"

"But sir…" Agent Hill protested

"There's always another way, a very old friend of mine taught me that" Fury re-iterated, sharing a knowing look with Wolverine

"Maybe if we asked the infected mutants, one of them might volunteer" Agent Hill suggested, Fury shot her a stern look

"No means no Agent, I'm not asking one of them to commit suicide"

"Maybe we should get the other scientists together and inform them of this discovery?" Dr Pym suggested

"That's the first good idea I've heard all day, schedule a briefing in an hour" Fury ordered Agent Hill, who quickly departed

One hour later…

"…And that's it, does anyone have an opinion about this?" Fury asked the assembled scientists

"This isn't something we should be discussing, let alone considering" T'challa said

"Are you mad? This is easily the best option, just kill one of the diseased and be done with it" the scientist next to him called out, who the Black Panther rounded on

"Watch your tongue Osborn or I might have to take care of it," he snapped

"Don't push me, you imbecilic African, this isn't AIDS we're dealing with here, go do a voodoo dance or something" Osborn retorted

"You little…"! The Black Panther swung at him, only to be restrained by Reed and Dr Pym as the others started arguing amongst themselves, with Fury and SHEILD trying to calm them down no-one noticed a scientist at the back slip away and out of the room, closing the door with a soft click, or the small canister he'd placed in front of the air vent in the corner before he'd left

In a neighbouring corridor, Jean approached the small storage room, after SHEILD had commandeered most of the lower levels of the mansion all the doctors and scientists who'd been brought in had requested a separate room to keep most of their equipment in, as the main infirmary wasn't nearly big enough for all of it. Her telepathy picked up faint jumbled thoughts she couldn't make sense of, as if someone or something was blocking her from reading the mind of the rooms occupant

"Dr Essex?" She knocked on the door; she could hear movement within the room but no one answered

"Dr Essex?" she asked again, again she didn't get an answer and slowly pushed the door open

"Doctor, Beast wants to know…" she became silent as she saw the inside of the room

The room didn't look like it belonged to a scientist, there were ancient scrolls hung on the walls; one was a stone tablet with Mayan pictograms, another with hieroglyphs and one with Chinese writing scribbled across it, there was a large table with a large metal chest, about the size of a shoebox, it gleamed like highly polished silver and had futuristic hieroglyphs etched across its surface, on the table in front of it lay three rings Jean recognized, since she was the one who'd stolen them for Mesmero

"What are these doing here?" Jean whispered under her breath, levitating the rings up off the table

"Silly girl…" a voice said form behind her; Jean froze as she heard it, it was cold, malicious and devoid of any compassion, of any humanity, as if its owner had had their soul torn out and left with an empty pit of evil, she looked down and saw the reflection of its owner in the metal box

It was Dr Essex, but looking very different. He had with short black hair and deathly white skin that looked like it belonged on a vampire, he was a black metallic outfit and a black metallic cloak lined with what looked like finest Chinese red silk, the rim of the cloak was raised up, making him look like a futuristic nosferateau, the tiny red jewel embedded in his forehead completed the image or a vampire from the distant future, his mouth split open in a ghoulish grin, showing his pointed, gleaming white teeth

"…Isn't it obvious?" Jean was barley able to throw up a telekinetic barrier as he sent his fist at her, it bounced off it and Jean quickly ducked under his outstretched arm and dived for the door, she suddenly felt an iron hand seize a fistful of her hair and her head was yanked sharply backwards, she slammed into the metal canisters with a clang

"You're remarkably resilient," he noted, advancing on her as she pushed herself to her feet

'Okay, the punch probably means his offence is limited to physical attacks, and because I couldn't read his mind he might be psychic too, if I can knock him out of the way I can get past him and out of here' she thought, looking around for something to throw at him, she concentrated and a canister rose up into the air and with a thought she sent it flying at her mysterious assailant, he didn't move to avoid it and it hit him square in the chest, then kept going and punched a hole the size of a football in his torso!

Jean was stunned; the man merely looked down and smiled as the hole began to close over, his bright green insides moving together to close the wound

"As I said, you're remarkably resilient…" he raised his hand and it began to glow with yellow energy

"…But so am I" he said, grinning like a shark he fired an energy blast that caught the shocked Jean in the head, she saw stars and collapsed back against a canister, using the last of her strength to send a telepathic message as her world faded to black

'Professor…help'

In the briefing room the Professor suddenly called out "Jean!" as her message reached its target, at the same moment Dr Essex pressed a button on his sleeve and the canisters top lifted up with a sharp beep and a green gas flooded the room, the vent spreading it quickly, before anyone knew what was happening they'd breathed it in and one by one they fell unconscious, powerless to stop what was happening

Cyclops was leaving the infirmary when he saw a menacing shadow appear, he raised his hand to his visor but upon seeing Essex it dropped to his side, he stood there, paralysed with terror, he knew the creature in front of him, it had terrorised him and his fellow orphans at the orphanage when he was a child and it still had the same effect it had had on him all those years ago, he walked past the incapacitated x-man and stood in the door of the infirmary, his arms crossed over his chest, staring at the mutants in and around the beds

"Dr Essex?" Solaris asked, he shook his head as several mutants around the room rose out of their beds and moved to stand behind their master

"It's Sinister, Mister Sinister"

In the next chapter – Mr Sinister reveals his plans for the legacy virus and the mutants try to put aside their differences to unite against the common threat

To be continued, now review, review, review!!


	8. The Enemy Of My Enemy

First, a big thanks to everyone whose reviewed all my fics so far, going back and taking in all your reviews really gave me the strength to keep going with this

Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men or X-Men: Evoltion, T'challa, Norman Osborn, Sinister and his crew are all owned by Marvel Comnics ltd, my OCs are mine though, so it's not all bad news

Chapter Eight: The Enemy Of My Enemy

For the first few seconds after Sinister's appearance there was complete bedlam, sick mutants tried to climb out of their beds to escape or fight the new threat, getting in the way of the able-bodied mutants and scientists who weren't in the room at the time of the knockout gas being deployed. Sick and able-bodied people alike were getting knocked down and trampled in the chaos

Dr Doom aimed an energy blast at Sinister but a scattering Morlock bumped into him and sent the blast at Reed, which knocked him backwards into two other scientists scrambling to get away from the monster that appeared in the room

"You'll take any chance to kill me won't you Victor!" Reed accused, pointing an elasticated finger at the Latverian despot

"Do not accuse me of such dishonourable tactics!" Doom bellowed in response above the pandemonium, apparently it either didn't convince Reed or the leader of the Fantastic Four didn't believe him and he rushed Doom, forgetting the real threat, intent to subduing his arch nemesis

Knocking mutant and human alike aside, Norman Osborn ran for the exit

"OSBORN GET BACK HERE!" Fury roared

"The hell I am, I didn't sign up for this, I'm outta here" he called over his shoulder as he vanished round a corner

"He won't get far Colonel Fury" T'challa yelled, jumping over the chaotic throng and following Osborn in hot pursuit, his long black cloak whipping round the corner of the door as he vanished in chase of the mad scientist

Storm crawled off her bed and tried valiantly to stand but as she tried to call up a thunderbolt pain flooded her mind and she coughed violently, blood splattering her black silk pyjamas and her knees gave way, lying on the floor, barely breathing

These scenes repeated themselves all over the infirmary, fighters tried to fire off energy shots or push their way through the panicked throng to get to the attackers but none of them could get off a decent shot or get close enough before being knocked off their feet by the panicked crowd

_Above ground…_

"No way, I aint buying it bub" Wolverine snorted, Maria Hill was getting tired of his attitude

"Director Fury's telling you the truth, Wolverine, there is no Nathaniel Essex, he doesn't exist"

"Well then how did he get in the Institute? I thought SHEILD was on top of that kinda thing?" he said, saturating every syllable with as much sarcasm as possible

"We don't know, he must have hacked our system and added himself onto one of the medical teams, but that's not why we're so concerned" she threw a folder across the table to Wolverine, who upended it and a dozen photos scattered across the table

"The fingerprints we have on file for 'Doctor Essex' match a few partials collected from murder scenes all across the Northeast, and they aren't exactly clean cut murders" Wolverine took a closer look at some of the photos, he noticed several of the corpses had deep lacerations, some of them were scabbed over

"These people weren't just killed, someone kept them alive for awhile, long enough for some of the wounds to start to heal"

"We know, they also had high levels of morphine and sedatives in their systems, it's looking like this guy kept them as his own lab rats for his sick little experiments" Fury said, his face set sternly

"I didn't risk my neck back in the war for some sick SOB to play doctor with peoples lives" Wolverine snarled, Fury sighed and decided to let Agent Hill deliver the worst piece of news

"It gets worse, the victims all shared the symptoms associated with the virus we're dealing with here, and it seems to be their C.O.D as well"

"So let me get this straight, you think this guy's got something to do with this virus, he's killed at least ten people, and you're just letting him run around free down there with the sick kids? Well I'm not" Wolverine snapped, before turning around and heading for the door before Fury grabbed his arm

"Wait a second Logan"

"Bub, take it off or I'll hack it off" Wolverine's claws slid out, Fury quickly let go, not sure whether Logan was bluffing or if he really meant it, either way he didn't want to take a chance with the mood the Canadian was in at that moment

"Logan, you know me, I'd never let someone like this perp stay loose without a good reason, SHEILD is letting him stay free for the moment to keep an eye on him, we need to know who he's working for, this kind of operation's too big for one man to do on his own, then we'll swoop in and take them all down. The first sign he's up to something I'll pull the plug and bring him in myself, you have my word", almost as soon as Fury finished talking the Institute's alarms sounded

"You were saying?" Wolverine asked, Fury shot him a scowl before the two split form the room and ran down the hall towards the elevator that led down to the lower levels of the Institute

Back in the infirmary…

Sinister glanced to one of the mutants next to him, a white man with long frizzy cotton candy pink hair dressed in attire that wouldn't look out of place in Pride and Prejudice

"Ruckus, if you'd be so kind" he inclined politely, the mutants sharp grey eyes eyed the crowd, there were so many different sounds, he drank them all in, 'so much to work with, I'll give these guys a show they'll never forget'

"You got it Mister S" he cupped his hands to his mouth, drew in a breath and let loose a sound the likes of which no-one in the room had ever heard before

Compared to the sound, the roar of a tiger was the mewling of a kitten; the bellow of a mustang's V8 was the whirr of an electric toothbrush, even the crack of a gunshot was like the popping of a cap gun

It split the throng of bodies like Moses parting the Red Sea, hurling them into tables, beds, monitors and IV stands, it made a path that Sinister and his men strode down, nearing the bed ridden mutants on the other side, the few mutants who'd kept their heads in the earlier bedlam rose to fight them

"Stay back!" Berserker warned, calling up his electric powers and drawing in extra juice from nearby machinery

"George, if you wouldn't mind" Sinister asked

"T'd be my pleasure sir, leave it to Gorgeous George" the mutant to Sinister's left answered in a heavy Australian accent. George was a tall lanky looking man with a very dark, tar like complexion; almost as if he had a port wine birthmark that covered his whole body, his hair was long, straggly and dark pink, mattered to his head and the back of his long lilac trench coat

"Nice threads, who does your shopping?" Berserker mocked, stalling for time in the hope someone else would come down to the infirmary as backup

"Watch it mate, or I'll be making my next coat outta your foul mouthed hide" George snarled, lunging at Berserker, who threw up a wall of electricity, the voltage danced across Gorgeous George's body and threw him backwards, hitting a heavy cabinet he didn't crumple to the floor but splattered all over it like a water balloon filled with grape juice

"Oh my god! You killed him!" Wanda cried

"I didn't mean to, I swear I didn't mean to, you saw it, it was self defence right?" he cried, dropping his protective barrier in shock at what he'd done, not noticing how the purple goo was sliding off the cabinet and wall and congealing together

"Well well, the little X-Man's a murderer, how's it feel? They say the first time's the best" Ruckus asked, Berserker just stared down at his hands, not noticing the puddle that was moving towards him, it suddenly rose upwards, reforming into Gorgeous George

"Crikey, that struck a nerve" Berserker just stared in absolute disbelief, not reacting when he saw Georges whip like arm descending on him, it slammed into him with the force of an elephant trunk and sent him skidding across the room to crash into a bed, his head hit the corner of the steel bed with a crack and his head slumped down to rest on his chest, out cold

"Hah! These kids are pathetic" Gorgeous George laughed, sliding forwards, his lower body looking like a giant snake made out of tar when a bolt of blue energy hit his right shoulder and he lost cohesion, reverting back to a puddle

"How unlucky" the Scarlet Witch noted, stepping forwards to take Berserkers place

"Nice one babycakes" Toad quipped, hopping onto the bed next to her, Wanda glared at him and he hopped back a few leaps

"Most impressive, you are Magneto's daughter, correct?" Sinister inquired

"Yes, not that it seems to matter to him" she replied

"I doubt it will matter to him right now, seeing as how he's my prisoner. I'd be happy to turn him over to your mercies, if you do something for me" his mouth split open, showing his pristine white teeth, Toad was reminded of a shark opening its mouth before taking its first bite

"What sort of favour do you have in mind?" Wanda asked

"Help me get these sick mutants out of here, I can sue them and the virus they're carrying to make this world a better place for all mutants"

"And I get my father after you're done?"

"You have my word and the world of a gentleman" Sinister told her, Wanda lowered her hands, glowing with hex power, in deep thought, remaining there for a few seconds, Toad hopped back over

"Babycakes?" Wanda spun round and blasted him close range with all the hex power she could muster

"Okay, deal" she told Sinister, who clapped his hands together

"Wonderful, now help my Boys gather up all the bed ridden mutants"

As Sinister's men and Wanda plucked Callisto, Storm, Hellblade, Magma, Lucid, Zamiel, Stormcaller and Quicksilver from their beds Nightcrawler, who'd been trampled in the fray, slowly pushed himself to his feet and saw Gorgeous George slithering over to where Rogue lay in her bed. Kurt quickly teleported to her bedside and lifted Rogue up in his arms, holding her around her bandage wrapped arms and pyjama-clothed body, glaring at Sinister

"I don't think so", Sinister gave him a toothy grin as the jewel in his forehead glowed with a dull red light, Rogues closed eyes snapped open, now a glowing blood red like those of the man who was controlling her mind. She lifted her un-bandaged hand and pressed it to Kurt's cheek, his eyes rolled back in his sockets and he let out a low groan as he slumped to the ground unconscious

"I do" Sinister told his unconscious form as Rogue climbed out of bed and walked slowly over to him, his subordinates and his prisoners, they all placed a hand on her arms and as one they teleported out in a puff of smoke

Down on the floor Lance pulled himself up just as Wolverine and Nick Fury burst into the infirmary, the three shared a knowing look, Sinister had outwitted some of the greatest minds on Earth, defeated the X-Men, Brotherhood, Morlocks and SHEILD, managed to escape and whatever his plan was, they were powerless to stop it

In the next chapter – The origins of the mysterious virus are revealed

Who will die? What's the deal with the Legacy Virus? And where's Deadpool gone? You'll find out in the next chapter, now get thee to the reviewing page and leave your views on my latest chappie


	9. The Legacy

Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men or X-Men: Evolution

Chapter Nine: The legacy

_Tibet, 1889_

_Nathaniel had no idea why, but the deeper he crawled through the narrow crevasse, the warmer it got, maybe the mountain was a dormant volcano? Perhaps there was a hot spring inside it? Perhaps his hypothermia was nearing its final stages? He didn't know which was true, and he didn't care, all he wanted was to get further down the crack in the mountain, to get warmer, whether that meant his death, at least his last sensation wouldn't be the biting cold of the Himalayas._

_He felt his sides jam against the rocky sides of the crack and he couldn't' t move forwards anymore, he was stuck, his left side was still filled with a wonderful warm sensation but his right side was starting to feel the icy grip of the outside as the icy wind blew down the slit in the side of the rock face_

'_Like the dammed of Tartarus' Nathaniel thought, his left hand moved to rest upon his heavy cotton coat, resting above the pocket where he'd stashed the reminder of why he'd made the trip to the roof of the world_

'_No, I can't give up, I can't fail them now' he vowed, he took a deep breath of the chilly air in the passage, pulled his stomach in as far as he could and shuffled his feet forwards with newfound determination, to his joy he felt his body moved forwards a few centimetres, he did it again, and again, his lungs burned for more air but he didn't dare take another breath_

_After a few more shuffles forward, he felt the passage start to widen out and finally exhaled, his lungs burned as though they'd been filled with vinegar and he stumbled out into a huge chamber, he thought he must have either gone mad from his recent hardships or died and gone to a very strange afterlife_

_There were many consoles of gleaming metal, it looked like steel but he somehow knew it wasn't but something much, much stronger, as well as many hundreds of small pictograms carved on the walls. 'Egyptian Hieroglyphics 'he thought, vaguely remembering similar designs from a tablet at the British museum he'd seen while looking for the one he'd later stolen_

_But by far the strangest thing in the chamber was the giant metal structure that stood at its centre, it looked somewhat like a pyramid but was made from the strange steel like metal as the rest of the machinery and had liens and lines of symbols intricately etched into its every face, some Egyptian Hieroglyphics, the rest were tiny glyphs the likes of which he'd never seen before, and had a good feeling no other scientist had either_

_With the greatest caution he walked slowly forwards towards the pyramid, then circled, taking each step as quietly as possible, as if the pyramid contained some ferocious monster. After deciding the pyramid was noting more than a solid piece of metal he stretched out his hand and laid it gently upon one of the large flat sides of the pyramid. Almost immediately the tiny etchings began to glow with an eerie cyan light and Nathaniel leapt back as the side of the pyramid began to slide away, revealing a large chamber within it, Nathaniel let out a hoarse whisper_

"_Amazing, simply amazing, if only the Cairo Museum could see this" stepping into the chamber he saw a strange looking helmet that looked a lot like a Pharaoh's headdress, curiosity getting the better of him he picked it up and put it on_

_As soon as it rested upon his head it clamed down onto it and he felt a sharp pain as though his head was caught in a tightening vice, the glyphs on the outside of the pyramid glowed with the intensity of a newborn sun. Calling on all of his strength he tore the helmet off his head and staggered outside the chamber and through his painful haze, saw what he'd done_

_Behind a row of consoles an enormous sarcophagus had risen, the outside of it resembled a giant silver scarab and the lines running cross the front showed it was split into five pieces, one by one they opened, revealing the caskets occupant_

_He was a giant of a man, nearly eight feel tall, clad in an ornate loincloth/skirt, sandals made of the finest Egyptian leather, ornate arm bands and a magnificent Pharaohs headdress of regal blue and bright yellow, the mans calm eyes focused in on Nathaniel as he stepped out of the sarcophagus, and floated in mid-air_

_Nathaniel heard the man, if he was a man and not a living god, speak, he wasn't sure if he heard the voice in his ears or in his mind, either way it was crystal clear_

"_**Who are you who has awoken me?" **_

_Nathaniel struggled to put words together to respond_

"_My name is Nathaniel Essex, who might you be Sire?"_

"_**Sire? And you know not my title, I was named En Sabbah Nur at birth, Pharaoh by my subjects in the Kingdom of the Nile, but those who betrayed me and imprisoned me here at the roof of the world gave me another name. Apocalypse" **__while his words were as formal and respectful as Nathaniel's, the man knew that he considered him as important as the specks of dust in the chamber_

"_**You have awakened me, but I am curious as to what compelled you to come tot her roof of the world"**_

"_I came here with one reason" he reached into his pocket and pulled a tattered, crumpled photograph out, it was of himself, a beautiful young woman and a little boy held in her arms_

"_My son was born…different, evolved, but he was sickly, weak, he died after barely five years on this earth, my wife was inconsolable and followed him into death a month after his funeral"_

"_**You have my…condolences, but why did such a loss bring you here? I am powerful, but even I cannot break the cycle of life and death"**_

"I learnt of a Egyptian King, Rama-Tut, who came to this plane after falling through time, I had hoped that this place, where his successor and his technology were entombed could allow me to travel through time to return to them"

"_**To what end?" **__The glowing Pharaoh asked_

"_To cure my son, Sire, I believe I have found a cure for his condition, if I can save him, my wife will not take her own life and my family will return to me. I beg of you, allow me to use the craft" the man shook his glowing head sadly_

"_**I am sorry Nathaniel Essex, but it would do no good, if you went back you would occupy the same temporal space as yourself, the resulting paradox would upset the cosmic order and destroy the universe. What are two lives weighed against the entire of existence?"**_

_Realizing the truth in the glowing kings words, Nathaniel sank to his knees, he had always suspected a paradox may result, but his hope, his desperation to get his family back had overridden those suspicions _

"_Then what do I do now great Pharaoh, what is my purpose? What mark can I leave on this world?"_

"**You can help make it so children like your son are not born different, that they are then norm and if they sicken, that they can be made well so future mothers and father do not suffer the hardships you have done"**

"And you can make such a world?"

"**Aye, I can, but I am unable to carry my plan out alone I need an able pair of hands in the world of man, hands that can work form the shadows while I remain here, what say you Nathaniel Essex? Will you join me?"** Nathaniel thought about it, minutes ticked by as the English gent sat silent, deep in thought, then he rose up and gave the radiant monarch his answer

"I have no family, my own parents died when I was but a boy, my…experiments to cure my son left me out of favour back in England, I have nothing to lose, so yes, I will join you in making this world a better place" as he spoke, h e thought he saw a faint flicker of a smile on the ancient kings face

"_**Then step into my vessel Nathaniel Essex, it will remake you in my kinds image,"**_

_With no regrets, Nathaniel Essex stepped forwards into the giant scarab as the Pharaoh levitated away from it, its front closed behind him, the Pharaoh spoke as the casket glowed inside, as Nathaniel was reborn_

"_**I need far more than just a man, so shall you become much more. Never to age, to be able to heal any wound, bolts of energy shall be yours to hurl and your scientific talents shall be greatly enhanced" **__the caskets front opened _

"_**Now emerge my herald, my envoy, my lieutenant" **__at his command Nathaniel Essex emerged, reborn, his skin was now a ghastly pale white and a blood red gem adorned his forehead, embedded into his skin, he peered into a polished metal surface to get a better look at himself_

"_My god, I look quite sinister" the Pharaoh gave a thoughtful look_

"_**Sinister, a most fitting name, now come my new herald, we have much to discuss and much to plan, millennia's worth of work to complete in just a few years"**__ Sinister gave a smile, his fanged teeth visible behind his ruby red lips_

"_Yes, my master"_

_Five years later…_

_Apocalypse groaned as he staggered towards his sarcophagus, Sinister rushed to help him but he signalled him back_

"_Lord Apocalypse, you cannot return to your slumber, there is still too much to be done"_

"**You think I am not aware of that Sinister, but forging this plague nearly made an end of me, and so it shall unless I return to my slumber, I regret ever considering this option, I should have remained with my original plan"**

"_And what of me? Have I not laboured tirelessly aiding you in the plagues making?"_

"_**You have served me well Sinister, and so I have one final task for you"**_

"_What is it my lord?" Apocalypse gave him his reply as he climbed into the casket_

"_**Retain the plague, hide in the shadows and refine it, perfect it, it and you shall be my reserve, my last resort, if I cannot convert the world to mutants with my original plan, if for some reason I should awaken, if I should fail, you will unleash it and the great mutation shall come to fruition. This plague will be my final legacy to this world"**_

"_I shall carry out your plan master, you will be done even if you are not around to witness it" Sinister cried out as the final section of the lid slid into place, returning Apocalypse to his endless slumber once more_

_Tibet, the present day_

"So, what exactly are your plans Sinister? Besides turning my child against me?" Magneto asked before getting hit with another blast of hex energy

"You did that yourself, father, when you locked me up in that hell hole of an asylum, Sinister has only given me a chance for my revenge" Wanda growled, the 'father' sliding off her tongue as if she was describing a pile of rotten entrails

"I did offer you a chance to join me Magneto, I thought you would approve and you spat it back in my face" Sinister gloated from his place near the ancient control panel in Apocalypse's tomb

"I will have no part in one of En Sabbah Nurs plans, mutants shall dominate this world by my hand and that of no other" Magneto retorted, Wanda let out a sour laugh

"How just like you, 'father', even if it achieves your goals, you want nothing to do with it if it's not your own work", choosing to ignore his daughters remark, magneto turned to address Sinister again

"Well Essex? Aren't you going to tell me what this plan of yours is?"

"I have told you a thousand times my name is Sinister and no, I think not, I do not see the reasoning in telling my enemy the intricacies of the plan I have worked on for over a century" Sinister snapped, offended that Magneto would even ask such a foolish question

'Well, I'm sure one of your enemies has figured it out, and figured out a way to stop it' Magneto thought, and he had a very good idea as to which enemies those were

_Above the line of Control, India_

Beast hung onto a strap in the Blackbird as it flew above northern India, making straight for the highest mountain range in the world

"Okay everyone listen up, a girl matching Rogues description was spotted in a village near the foot of the Himalayas, the location suggests Sinister is using Apocalypse's old prison as his base"

"And what if your suggestion is wrong?" Evan called out, three of his friends, his family, were missing, abducted by a mutated madman, if they didn't find them soon he doubted they ever would, or at least have no hope of finding them alive

"If you've got any theories then we're all ears porcupine" Wolverine snapped in response and Evan scowled back but said nothing, they were minutes away from the biggest battle of their lives since Apocalypse was freed and he didn't need a team that was arguing with one another

"Caliban can sense them, they are near" the mutants monotone voice droned, pointing to a mountain in the distance, just over the border in Tibet

"That answer your question bub?" Wolverine asked Evan, who nodded but again didn't reply as the jet streaked towards the mountain, Caliban's response allaying his fears

Less than ten minutes later the Blackbird was hovering above a narrow icy ledge outside the cave that been the prison of Apocalypse

"Go, keep it moving, one slip and it's a two thousand foot drop" Wolverine yelled as Evan, Caliban, Solaris, Taipan, Bobby, Colossus and Jean leapt out of the jet and quickly crossed to the roof of the cave, another mutant made to jump but Kitty held him back

"No Lance"

"Let go Kitty, I'm coming with you"

"They said you could ride with us, but you're staying here in the jet, I thought I'd lost you once, I don't plan on losing you again" Lance saw it was an argument he wasn't going to win

"Fine but let me give you something for good luck" he leaned forwards and kissed her softly

"What was that for?"

"Think of it as a good luck charm, and I promise when we get back we'll sit down and figure us out" Kitty merle smiled in response and took a running jump from the jet to land in the mouth of the cave

"Well? What're we waiting for?" she asked, the group moved deeper into the cave, passing hieroglyphics scribbled on the walls until they reached a giant stone slab, a large hole had been blasted into it, inside the hole there was a faint glow of computer monitors

"Caliban can sense Storm dead ahead," the albino mutant whispered, Wolverine held up three fingers and counted down, three, two, one…

…and the X-men jumped through the hole and rushed the people inside Apocalypses prison

In the next chapter – The reasons behind the Legacy virus are revealed and the ultimate sacrifice is made

To be continued, all reviews and feedback are greatley appreciated


	10. The Final Aftershock

Chapter Ten: The Final Aftershock

Inside the chamber several forms could be seen in the darkness, teetering on their feet. Suddenly floodlights near the ceiling turned on and the chamber was flooded with bright light. The forms were revealed to be Storm, Hellblade, Pietro, Rogue, Stormcaller, Lucid, Magma and Zamiel, each with blood splattered down their fronts and red stains on their chin, their eyes filled with a sickly red glow and rolling in the back of their heads.

"BACK!" a metal panel was torn from the ceiling and swung in front of the X-Men, absorbing the full force of a massive stone on a chain that swung down and would have sent them scattering like bowling pins if it had connected. Wolverine saw Magneto chained to an ancient metal statue in the corner, resembling an Egyptian god with a scorpion for a head. His features were withered and his eyes sunken in their sockets

"You must get out of here! Sinister, my Wanda, they've both gone mad, this virus it will-ARRRGH!" he let out a scream of agony and slumped down, his chain going taught and suspending him inches off of the cold stone floor

"You always did talk too much, father" Wanda snarled, appearing from behind the statue. Her face was a mask of contempt, a tiny metal chip implanted at the top right of her forehead

"Wanda! Why are you doing this? Magneto may have wronged you in the past but he's your father, and your brother could die" Wanda glared at Jean, having been prepared for the 'desperate plea' approach

"I'm sick of it, so very, very sick of it. They never learn, both of them, every time I try and forgive them, whenever I try to open my heart up to the idea of letting the past go, they do something to remind me of why I hated them both" she jerked a thumb at Magneto

"Did you know whose idea it was to revive this virus? HIS! He thought it could be used to mutate humans into mutants, so he tracked down Sinister"

"But Mr Sinister didn't want to be ordered around by some mutant Che Guevara" Sinister continued as he stepped out from the shadows to stand behind Wanda, surveying the intruders he looked surprised

"What? Why isn't Scott Summers here?"

"Why does that matter?" Jean responded

"Ehh, I suppose it's of no importance, now Wanda, what do you say we teach our little guests why it's rude to break and enter?" the chip on Wanda's forehead crackled with the same energy that glowed within Sinister's jewel and the sick mutants turned as one to face the X-Men and charged

Storm held out her hand and a whirlwind shot from it, coupled with the gale force wind Stormcaller unleashed only Colossus was able to hunker down and avoid being blown backwards, before anyone could get back up, Hellblade and Callisto were upon them, the vampires scimitars flashed downwards towards Jean and only Wolverine's claws managed to keep Jeans throat from being hacked open, Callisto's staff was struck from her hands by a thick bone spike Evan grew from his wrist

"Come on Callisto, snap out it!" She responded with a blank stare and threw her arms up in a fighting position, Hellblade somersaulted backwards to land beside her, their movements jerky and sudden, Wolverine was reminded of scarecrows being pulled around by the wind as he and Jean went after Storm and Stormcaller

"Valon, come on, fight it, you've got to!" Kitty cried, he gave her the same blank state Callisto gave Evan and shifted to his wolf form, leaping at her she was too shocked to turn intangible and was knocked down to the floor, his snapping jaws descending towards her throat, then stopping suddenly. His head hovered there as though some tiny part of him was holding himself back.

"Bad dog" came a gruff voice as a fish slammed into his head, sending the wolf reeling backwards, then Avalanche grabbed his tail and lifted him up, using his momentum to swing him into the wall, he hit with s sickening crack and slumped to the floor, out cold

"Lance?"

"Couldn't let you have all the fun now could I?" he quipped, pulling Kitty to her feet upon which she gave him a crushing bear hug

"Whoa easy easy I'm not a hundred percent yet" Kitty immediately let go

"I think Wanda's controlling them with that chip on her head, I think I can phase it off if I can get close enough, can you distract them?" she asked, loud enough for the others to hear

"Can do, follow my lead" Lance replied, starting forward, Colossus set off too, barrelling into lucid and sending the mutant flying through the air and out of the fight only for Wanda to flick a hex bolt his way, his steel skin turned off and ran smack into Magma, letting out a yell of pain he fell backwards, his left arm and face an angry pink for the burns

Magma loomed over Colossus, a massive fireball held aloft, seconds away from dropping it and reducing the Russian to ashes when a snaking tendril of white fire struck her and caused the fireball to dissipate

"You may think you're hot Amara but you're not even making me sweat" Solaris called, Magma hurled a torrent of fire at him and he countered it with a stream of his own white fire, the two pryokinetics matched degree for degree as Lance and Kitty slipped by them, only for Quicksilver to slam into Kitty, sending her to the floor as Lance grabbed Pietro, he recoiled at the empty eyes of his friend, formerly so full of life and energy. Pietro wasn't so fazed and began to vibrate his hand, held out like a blade and readying it to be swung at Lances head, vibrating his brains to jelly

"Back off Pietro" Bobby called out, freezing him in a block of ice up to his torso, Pietro glanced down and began vibrating, cracks immediately began to appear in the ice and with every second they grew larger and larger, Bobby threw a chunk of ice at his head, finally putting him out of action. Kitty got back up and heard a groan from behind her as Zamiel slumped over, a large bruise forming on his right cheek form where Taipan's tail had hit it, her fellow X-Man turned to her

"We've got thisss, get going!" Kitty didn't need to be told twice as Taipan and Bobby went to aide Logan and Jean in subduing Storm and Stormcaller she and Lance hurried forwards, but Wanda and Sinister were waiting for them, both charging up their hex bolts and energy blasts respectively.

His eyes rolling back in his head Lance called up his powers and the entire cavern began to shake, sending sizeable pieces of stone crashing down from the ceiling and forcing Wanda and Sinister to focus on blasting them out of the way, giving Kitty her chance. Reaching forwards her hand sunk into Wanda's skull and when it came out, brought the chip with it. Wanda let out a screech and shoved kitty away, clutching at her head where a small stream of blood was pouring from the hole in her head, the chip had been fixed right onto her skull and the pain was incredible, she fell to her knees, both hands pressed over the wound. Lance directed a wave of tremors right at Sinister and knocked him right off his feet, a sizeable chunk of stone landed on his right leg, smashing it to a bloody pulp and pinning him to the floor as he fell, the gem on his forehead cracked and the light it emitted gone, his costume was emitting faint crackles and sparks, he raised a hand for another energy blast but the faint glow he gathered faded after a few seconds

"You little brat! This will take months of repairs!" Lance came to a sudden realization

"Repairs? You're not a mutant are you?"

"No, Lord Apocalypse only granted me longevity, the rest of my gifts are of my own design, and a hundred years gives you a lot of time to refine your work"

Across the cavern Storm and Stormcaller slumped to the ground and went into convulsions, black blood leaking from their eyes, nose, ears and mouth

"What's happening to them?" Kitty demanded, Sinister laughed

"It's too late; they've reached the final stage. In minutes every drop of blood in their body will be expunged and the virus cells will be airborne, carried round the world on the wind currents, infecting every mutant who encounters them"

"Why? Apocalypse wanted to turn everyone on the planet into mutants, why create something that will kill us?" Lance demanded, hoisting Sinister forwards by the scruff of his cloak

"Apocalypse was a fool! Turning others into mutants would never have helped my child, no; only by making sure another child like him can ever be born will I spare more parents from the same fate!"

"What're you talking about? You know what, I don't care, I'll get the sob story later, how do we stop it?" Lance snarled, Sinister smiled

"You don't, you can't, in a minute it will be all over" Sinister cackled, Jean rushed over, not bothering to say anything simply delved into his mind, forcing her way into the deepest recesses of it to find what she was looking for, she found it quicker than she expected at the cost of sending Sinister into a catatonic state

"The machine, he used it to mutate the virus, we can mutate what's left inside it into an anti-virus" She said, looking over at a raised metal altar with two holes in front of an array of test tubes, metal cases and complex machinery, she, Lance, Kitty and Wolverine gathered in front of it

"So what do we do?" Wolverine asked Jean, she began making telekinetic adjustments to the machinery

"There, it's all ready, now it just needs a fresh dose of mutant blood to activate the process"

"Fresh blood?"

"I saw it in Sinister's mind, the machine synthesised the virus from a combination of toxins he found in mutant blood, we need the antibodies to reverse it and a lot of them"

"So big deal, hook me up and I'll heal the damage"

"No Logan it doesn't work that way, this machine will drain ALL the blood from the user, in other words..."

"...Whoever puts their hands in those holes is gonna die" Kitty finished, they all looked at each other

"No, there's got to be another way" Storm let out a wail as more blood came gushing out of her mouth

"We don't have time!" Lance looked over to where Hellblade, still in wolf form was howling in agony and writhing on the floor

"You'd better take care of Kitty for me fang face!" he yelled before barging Wolverine out of the way and jamming both hands into the holes on the altar, swallowed up to the forearms. Almost as soon as his fingers touched the back of the holes he felt hundreds of needles drive into his hands and forearms and being to draw his blood out, the world began to spin and he heard a long cry of "LAAAAAAAAAAAAANCE!" ring in his ears

'Sorry Kitty, sorry I've gotta go and be a selfish jerk like this, hope you'll forgive me some day, heh, I saved the vampire, I saved the world', his final thought, before the world went black forever.

Hellblade's eyes slowly opened and he groggily sat up, reverting to his human form as he opened his eyes, the bright lights of the cavern making him squint, he could hear a chorus of sobs from somewhere nearby, easily audible over the barked orders of Nick Fury and Wolverine as various SHEILD personnel were rushing everywhere, securing and cleaning up the cavern

"Ugh, what happened? I feel like I just got drunk with Wolverine again" he said to no-one in particular, then felt himself be pulled to his feet by a force he couldn't touch, his vision swam back into focus and he saw Jean Grey standing there. Holding put a slightly damp towel

"You look terrible Valon"

"I've felt better" he replied, grabbing the towel and cleaning as much of the dried blood from his face as possible, he saw Kitty on her knees clutching something to her chest and Logan on one knee resting a hand on her shoulder with an expression he hadn't seen on his face since world war two, most of the X-Men were over in the corner, huddled around them

"What...what happened?" he saw dried streaks down Jeans face, the psychic had been crying

"Go to Kitty"

"Jean, what happened?"

"Just go to Kitty!" she snapped, wiping a tear from her eye, he walked over and as he got closer, saw what she was holding and his walk turned into a run, he skidded to a stop and went down to his knees, she lifted her head to look at him and he was at a loss for words, that look, that look would haunt his dreams forever, he glanced at Wolverine and he was at a loss too

Days Later...

Kitty watched from her room as Quicksilver, Toad, Blob and Wolverine carried the simple black coffin towards the hearse, away from the X-Men and Brotherhood and others gathered at the mansions front steps. She had a tissue in her hands but nothing would come, no tears, no nothing, she was just...numb...hollow...empty

There was a soft knock on the open door and she saw Hellblade standing there, neither said a word. He walked over to her and placed his arms around her, now, it all came flooding through, she buried her face in his chest, he his face in her hair and they both long into the night

The End


End file.
